Influenced by non-Western music, this important composer also utilizes computer and improvisational techniques.

Robert Morris is presently chair of the composition department of the Eastman School of Music, where he is Professor of Composition and affiliate member of the theory and musicology departments. He is a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Hanson Institute for American Music, the American Music Center and the American Council of Learned Societies. His music has been performed in North America, Europe, Australia, China, Taiwan and Japan. Morris has written music for a wide variety of musical forms and media. He has composed over 140 works including computer and improvisational music. Some of his output from the 1970's is influenced by non-Western music and uses structural principles from Arabic, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese and early Western musics. While such influences are less noticeable in more recent works, the temporal and ornamental qualities of Eastern music have permanently affected Morris' style. In addition to his music, Morris has written many articles and reviews that have appeared in scholarly music journals contributing to theories of musical analysis and aesthetics, compositional design, electronic and computer music, and Indian music. He is also co-editor of Perspectives of New Music.